Queens, New York

Everything Queens is known for

49 songs mention this city 23 artists from here

Queens, New York, the largest borough in New York City by area, boasts a rich musical heritage, particularly in hip-hop. Many influential artists, such as Nicki Minaj, 50 Cent, and Run-D.M.C., call Queens home. The borough is also mentioned in 49 songs, including Run-D.M.C.'s "It's Tricky" and LL Cool J's "I Need Love."

Music in Queens

Songs About Queens

Meet the Mets
Mets Ensemble
100%
Hillbilly Bone (feat. Trace Adkins)
Blake Shelton
100%
"Never been south of Queens"
It's Tricky
Run-DMC
80%
Flight To JFK
Evan Honer And Theo Kandel
80%
I Need Love
LL Cool J
65%
Rare
Nas
55%
"Mentally, I'm in Queens"
Doreen
Old 97s
53%
"In the moonlight on a side street in the wreckage we call Queens"
Jack The Ripper
LL COOL J
52%
"The prince of hip-hop, straight from Queens"
5 Boroughs
KRS-One
52%
"by all means you know you gotta put Queens on it"
Suspect
Nas
51%
"Queens'll be the death of me"
Trife Life
Mobb Deep
49%
"Now it's back to Queens to serve fiends"
Give Up the Goods (Just Step)
Mobb Deep
49%
"A-yo, Queens get the money, long time no cash"
the king of telling lies
nicholas jamerson & justin clyde williams
45%
Ticket to L.A.
Brett Young
43%
"It was midnight in the middle of JFK"
Walk This Way
Run-DMC
23%
Walk This Way
Run-D.M.C.
23%
wolves of new york
luke callen
23%
It's Tricky
Run-D.M.C.
19%
Hollister
Aaron DuRall
15%
St. Francois
Aaron DuRall
15%

Showing top 20 of 49 songs

Artists From Queens

5
50 Cent
hip-hop Pop: 85
N
Nicki Minaj
hip-hop Pop: 85
N
Nas
hip-hop Pop: 81
L
Lil Tecca
hip-hop Pop: 79
R
Run-D.M.C.
hip-hop Pop: 73
S
Simon & Garfunkel
folk Pop: 70
M
Mobb Deep
hip-hop Pop: 67
A
A Tribe Called Quest
hip-hop Pop: 66
R
Rich The Kid
hip-hop Pop: 66
L
Ll Cool J
hip-hop Pop: 63
S
Salt-N-Pepa
hip-hop Pop: 61
j
jacal
electronic Pop: 54
Y
Young MC
hip-hop Pop: 53
R
Roxanne Shante
hip-hop Pop: 52
B
Bayside
rock Pop: 49
M
Meyhem Lauren
hip-hop Pop: 47
C
Capone-N-Noreaga
hip-hop Pop: 46
C
Cormega
hip-hop Pop: 44
T
The Shangri-Las
pop Pop: 42
R
Reagan Youth
rock Pop: 36

Showing top 20 of 23 artists

Rivers & Roads in Song near Queens

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Queens.

Interstate 95 13 songs Hudson River 8 songs New Jersey Turnpike 4 songs

Musical Heritage

CBGB — Birthplace of American Punk RoadyGoat

1973

The narrow storefront at 315 Bowery was CBGB, the grimy club where American punk and new wave were essentially born. Hilly Kristal opened it in December 1973, and the name is one of music's great ironies: CBGB & OMFUG stood for 'Country, BlueGrass, Blues, and Other Music For Uplifting Gourmandizers' (Kristal meant a 'voracious eater' — of music). Almost no country or bluegrass ever played there. Instead the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Patti Smith and Television cut their teeth on its tiny stage through the 1970s. CBGB closed on October 15, 2006 over a lease dispute, and Kristal died of lung cancer the following year. The space later became a John Varvatos clothing boutique (opened April 2008), which kept some of the club's graffiti and posters; 'CBGB 73' is still etched in the cement at the entrance.

8.7 mi away

History of Queens

Peter Luger Steak House RoadyGoat

Peter Luger has been serving porterhouse steaks in Williamsburg, Brooklyn since 1887. The German-style beer hall turned steakhouse earned a Michelin star and held Zagat's top steakhouse rating for 30 consecutive years. The ordering ritual is simple — you get the porterhouse for two, three, or four. The steak sauce, sold in bottles, has its own cult following. When the New York Times gave it zero stars in 2019, New Yorkers revolted. The place hasn't changed, and that's the point.

6.9 mi away

Junior's Restaurant RoadyGoat

Harry Rosen opened Junior's on the corner of Flatbush and DeKalb in Brooklyn in 1950. The cheesecake — dense, creamy, on a sponge-cake base — became so famous that Junior's ships thousands nationwide every holiday season. The neon sign and vinyl booths are Brooklyn institutions. When downtown Brooklyn gentrified around it, Junior's held firm.

7.7 mi away

McSorley's Old Ale House RoadyGoat

McSorley's has been pouring in the East Village since 1854, making it New York City's oldest bar. Abraham Lincoln drank here. Woody Guthrie drank here. The menu is light ale or dark ale — that's it. Sawdust covers the floor. Wishbones hang from the gas lamp, left by soldiers heading to World War I who never came back. Women weren't allowed until a 1970 court order.

8.7 mi away

World Trade Center / Ground Zero

2001

Site of the September 11, 2001 attacks that destroyed the Twin Towers and killed 2,977 people.

9.5 mi away

Brooklyn Bridge

1869

The Brooklyn Bridge, completed in 1883, was the first steel-wire suspension bridge and the longest suspension bridge in the world for twenty years.

8.6 mi away

CBGB

1973

CBGB at 315 Bowery was the birthplace of American punk rock, launching the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, and Television.

8.7 mi away

Tin Pan Alley

1885

The stretch of West 28th Street between Broadway and Sixth Avenue where the American popular music publishing industry was born.

9.1 mi away

Central Park

1858

Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, Central Park was the first major public park in America and reshaped urban planning worldwide.

9.7 mi away

Ellis Island Immigration Station

1892

From 1892 to 1954, over twelve million immigrants entered the United States through Ellis Island in New York Harbor.

10.7 mi away

Things to Do in Queens

historical 10.9 mi away
Statue of Liberty

Give me your tired your poor. 305 feet of copper freedom since 1886.
food 6.9 mi away
Peter Luger Steak House

Brooklyn's legendary porterhouse palace since 1887. Cash only. The steak sauce is iconic. Zagat's top steakhouse for 30 straight years.
food 7.6 mi away
Di Fara Pizza

One man hand-cutting basil and drizzling olive oil on every pizza since 1965 in Brooklyn.
food 8.4 mi away
Katz's Delicatessen

I'll have what she's having. NYC's legendary pastrami since 1888.
food 8.7 mi away
McSorley's Old Ale House

NYC's oldest bar since 1854. Lincoln drank here. You get light or dark — that's it. Sawdust floors and wishbones on the gas lamp.
food 8.8 mi away
Lombardi's Pizza

America's first pizzeria opened in 1905 on Spring Street in Manhattan. Coal-fired oven. The original New York slice started here.
food 10.6 mi away
Nathan's Famous (Original)

The Coney Island hot dog stand that started it all in 1916. Home of the July 4th eating contest. Mustard not ketchup.
historical 10.7 mi away
Apollo Theater

Amateur Night launched Ella James Brown and a young Michael Jackson. Harlem's crown jewel.

Everything Near Queens

340 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

Explore Queens on the Map
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